The present invention relates to a database integration management system for integrating information stored in a plurality of databases in different categories of business and, in particular, to a technology that is advantageously applied to a database integration management system for individually managing information about individual material objects to allow information in databases to be used across a plurality of categories of business.
When a material object is produced by a producer, transported to a selling agent by a forwarding agent, then sold by a selling agent to consumers, each of categories of business such as the producer, forwarding agent, and selling agent conventionally stores information about the material object in their respective databases and manages the material object in a manner suitable for each of the categories of business.
A concept called Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is being introduced in many business categories, which enables an optimum response to any inquiry from customers by extending the concept of business innovation achieved by information technology in sales departments to share and manage customer information and customer contact history among all departments that communicate with the customers. Managers in business categories such as producers, forwarding agents, and selling agents that handle material objects distributed by a number of business categories as described above analyzes material object information stored in their respective databases in order to improve CRM services.
While a producer, forwarding agent, and selling agent that handle material objects distributed by a plurality of business categories analyze the material object information stored in their respective databases in order to improve their services as described above, it is difficult to improve CRM services concerning an material object distributed through the plurality of business categories because, besides factors in each category, factors in different categories may affect customer's evaluation and the sales of the material object.
Suppose that apple C produced at temperature B by farm A is transported by forwarding agent D to selling agent E and, F days after the arrival at selling agent E, sold to consumer G, for example. If apple C is rated low by consumer G, it is difficult for the producer, forwarding agent, or selling agent to individually determine which of temperature B during production, the way apple C is transported by forwarding agent D, the F-days-after-selling sales, and other causes the low rating should be attributed to, by using only information in their databases in the respective business categories.
On the other hand, it is difficult to integrate information stored in the databases in the different business categories such as a producer, forwarding agent, and selling agent, because no key is available for associating information in a database with information in another database. Therefore it is impossible to identify which record in a database corresponds to which record in another database. In addition, the different databases use different formats.